'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.2

[tavernier]

Whichever DePalma film it is, I'm sure they already have Armond White lined up to scribble an essay.

[Jeff]

I bet the de Palma is Raising Cain just to piss everyone off.

I kinda love Raising Cane.

[domino harvey]

No, but they were also very fond of Face/Off. And Cloverfield.

Cloverfield I understand, but Face/Off eludes me

[domino harvey]

Plus, whatever Redacted's merits, this would also mean that Sasha Grey would likely be entering the collection, and we should all hold out hope that that never happens

Her entering something would be a nice change of pace

[CSM126]

I bet the de Palma is Raising Cain just to piss everyone off.

I kinda love Raising Cane.

Oh, me too, but for all the wrong reasons. It's an absolute hoot as a "What were they thinking" campy movie.

[ianungstad]

Probably not Phantom of the Paradise. I emailed the gentlemen who runs the Swan Archive. He apparently owns a number of reels of films containing deleted scenes previously considered lost and outtakes from Phantom. He replied that in the past he's actually offered Criterion the use of the material if they ever planned to release Phantom and he said they didn't seem interested in it at all.

He's said in an 08 posting on HTF that Fox is aware of the footage as well and aren't interested either. I suppose Phantom could still be a possibility but seems pretty unlikely. Too bad!

EDIT: I emailed Michael Schlesinger at Sony asking if they had plans to reissue Obsession on dvd and he said "Don't know." Which is a valid response...I guess. I thought Schlesinger was in charge of DVD development for Sony/Columbia's classic library, so you would think he would be in a position to know about the film's status.

[ShellOilJunior]

The following films won't be coming to Criterion any time soon:

Shoe –Shine (1946)
Bellissima (1951)
La Terra Trema (1948)
Ossessione (1943)

and lastly:

La Dolce Vita (1960)

E1 Entertainment has acquired all North American rights for the above titles.

http://www.screendaily.com/news/distrib ... 64.article" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ianungstad]

Anyone think Criterion might have grabbed the rights to : The Piano, The Crying Game, any of the early films of Paul Verhoeven? All these titles are out of print and I think would interest Criterion. I think these are all independent films, so they shouldn't be tied up with any studio. I don't know if all or any of these titles are actually available or why their discs were discontinued. Makes for good speculation IMO.

[Jeff]

Anyone think Criterion might have grabbed the rights to : The Piano, The Crying Game

I suspect that the Artisan/Lionsgate discs of these are out of print due to the rights reverting to Miramax or the Weinsteins.

[ianungstad]

If they are still with Miramax, why were they licensed to Lions Gate? Excuse my ignorance.

[Jeff]

If they are still with Miramax, why were they licensed to Lions Gate? Excuse my ignorance.

Disney bought Miramax in 1993, but they existed as an independent theatrical distributor for at least a decade before that. Miramax films released prior to 1994 were only produced by Miramax and distributed theatrically by them. For home video, they licensed them to other independent distributors, notably Live Entertainment (which became Artisan, then Lionsgate) and HBO. This is similar to the way independent theatrical distributor IFC licenses to Criterion and MPI for video. HBO's contract to distribute their releases (The Grifters, Cinema Paradiso) eventually expired and Miramax was able to release their own versions. I'm guessing that Live/Lionsgate's contract has now expired too. The question is, with the reportedly convoluted contract the Weinsteins negotiated when they left Disney, did they get custody of these titles or not? They supposedly were allowed to take the rights for some early titles they were responsible for with them.

[Harmonov]

With Miramax now dead, will any of the rights to their films be released from Disney? Just curious.

http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/rip-miramax-13606" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[captveg]

The Miramax films should either be already owned by Disney or by the Weinsteins. I believe this just means that Disney will no longer fund that branch of their production companies (just like Warner closed down Warner Independent).

[Tribe]

It's pretty sad when I mostly rely on Gawker for my news these days: The Day the Indies Died-Miramax Closes Its Doors.

[Flike]

re: Ian's observation of the OOP American Zoetrope stuff, would the announcement of the Lionsgate Tetro release indicate there probably isn't a Criterion deal brewing?

[ianungstad]

re: Ian's observation of the OOP American Zoetrope stuff, would the announcement of the Lionsgate Tetro release indicate there probably isn't a Criterion deal brewing?

Probably too early to tell, it's likely that home video plans for Tetro were made quite some time ago. Maybe even before it's theatrical run.

While I'm sure many people would not be excited about a Criterion of Apocalypse Now or Virgin Suicides, it should be noted that American Zoetrope have plenty of films that are sitting undistributed including Napoleon (Gance), Every Man For Himself (Godard), Passion (Godard), Hammett (Wenders), Grey Fox (Borsos), Barfly (Schroeder). I don't see Lionsgate giving titles like these the time of the day, while I could see Criterion adding several to a possible licensing deal. The Qatsi films Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi are Zoetrope titles for what it's worth.

[ianungstad]

If they are still with Miramax, why were they licensed to Lions Gate? Excuse my ignorance.

Disney bought Miramax in 1993, but they existed as an independent theatrical distributor for at least a decade before that. Miramax films released prior to 1994 were only produced by Miramax and distributed theatrically by them. For home video, they licensed them to other independent distributors, notably Live Entertainment (which became Artisan, then Lionsgate) and HBO. This is similar to the way independent theatrical distributor IFC licenses to Criterion and MPI for video. HBO's contract to distribute their releases (The Grifters, Cinema Paradiso) eventually expired and Miramax was able to release their own versions. I'm guessing that Live/Lionsgate's contract has now expired too. The question is, with the reportedly convoluted contract the Weinsteins negotiated when they left Disney, did they get custody of these titles or not? They supposedly were allowed to take the rights for some early titles they were responsible for with them.

Thanks for that! The film rights probably did revert back to Miramax! With the company shutting down, it will be interesting to see if Disney starts licensing out some of these titles. I'm sure that the most popular stuff will just move over to Buena Vista...but there's a lot of titles I could see them licensing out or just letting the rights expire.

[Feego]

American Zoetrope have plenty of films that are sitting undistributed including ... Passion (Godard) .... I don't see Lionsgate giving titles like these the time of the day

Lionsgate released Passion in their Jean-Luc Godard box set, along with First Name: Carmen, Detective, and Oh Woe Is Me.

[beamish13]

Hammett (Wenders).

I wouldn't be surprised if Zoetrope still had Wenders' original cut of that film. I'd love to see it in its original form.

[captveg]

Re: Gance's Napoleon - Robert Harris is currently involved with Zoetrope (and others) on a new restoration.

Some direct quotes from late 2008 (source here: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/t ... f-napoleon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )

"There is now a joint effort to upgrade all elements for both cuts and scores"

"a) when such a dvd might become available

Not at this time, as a great deal of digital restoration work must be performed, and this is still at early stages.

b) whether a blu ray edition will also be released

Yes.

c) whether both the Coppola and Davis scores will be included in the package

At this time, only the Coppola score has been recorded, but there is no reason, other than economic, why Mr. Davis' score could not be. Whether the two versions would be released as a package or separately has not yet been decided."

"Universal controls US and Canadian theatrical and home video rights with a recorded synchronized soundtrack."

[ellipsis7]

The Coppola score only exists for a vastly truncated version, which seems to be the version here, the Davis score has (as I understand it) adapted, extended and transformed as the accepted compilation edit of the film lengthens and comes closer to Gance's intentions... I heard the the piano reduction of Davis some years back, but even then it was 6 hours live accompaniment plus to the then Brownlow edit..

[HistoryProf]

re: Ian's observation of the OOP American Zoetrope stuff, would the announcement of the Lionsgate Tetro release indicate there probably isn't a Criterion deal brewing?

Probably too early to tell, it's likely that home video plans for Tetro were made quite some time ago. Maybe even before it's theatrical run.

While I'm sure many people would not be excited about a Criterion of Apocalypse Now or Virgin Suicides, it should be noted that American Zoetrope have plenty of films that are sitting undistributed including Napoleon (Gance), Every Man For Himself (Godard), Passion (Godard), Hammett (Wenders), Grey Fox (Borsos), Barfly (Schroeder). I don't see Lionsgate giving titles like these the time of the day, while I could see Criterion adding several to a possible licensing deal. The Qatsi films Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi are Zoetrope titles for what it's worth.

Man, I can't tell you how excited I would be for a CC of Barfly - the extant snappered disc is terrible. and to have such lines as "Nobody in this neighborhood can swallow paste like I can" in the collection would be a thing of beauty

[justeleblanc]

Ian, please provide a source for your list of American Zoetrope titles, for there are mistakes. Passion is currently available on DVD through Lionsgate. Every Man for Himself was a New Yorker Films title at the time of their demise.

[ianungstad]

http://www.zoetrope.com/zoe_films.cgi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just listed a few titles I thought were not currently on dvd that are listed on the Zoetrope site under their production credits. Have no idea what's tied up with the studios and what's independently owned. The stuff that went out of print at Paramount is obviously owned by Coppola as well as Mishima and the two Qatsi titles.

[zachhh]

CUL-DE-SAC (“check back in few months”) (Last Update: 09/08)

any updates on this? been quite a while ](*,)